This invention relates generally to containers and, more particularly, is directed to containers for fast drying liquids such as nail polish and glue.
Reusable containers for viscous fluids are limited by the tendency of fluids such as women's nail polish and glue to dry up, become gummy and adhere to the lids of the containers. This makes opening the containers either difficult or impossible. These viscous fluids also tend to dry up at the bottom of the container once the fluid level falls and only a thin layer covers the bottom.
Containers for fast drying fluids having tapered bottoms are generally unknown. The closest prior art known to the inventors are locking microcentrifuge tubes. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,356, issued Jul. 5, 1988. These tubes are constructed with a taper so as to facilitate the insertion of the tubes into a centrifuge holder and apparently to facilitate the removal of the contents of the tube by the use of a pipette. They do not use a structure attached to their cover to remove their contents. Further, these tubes are not concerned with fast drying fluids accumulating at their top through multiple use, since the centrifuge causes the liquids to be spun to the bottom of the tube. On the contrary the invention of the '356 patent is intended to provide a more secure seal to prevent the accidental loosening of the cover, which is assumed to be easily removable.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,938,376 disclosed a paint brush holder with a tapered bottom. This invention is not a covered container. Its tapered shape served the purpose of maintaining the shape of the brush, and not to extract more paint from a container.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,326,885 disclosed container closures which were deformable to facilitate removal. They did not have the lever mechanism of the present invention and required a loose fit to allow the lid to deform inwardly in certain parts of the circumference of the lid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,930 disclosed a large container, like a garbage can, with a deformable lid. Here the lid appears to have snapped onto the container and was removed by lifting upwards from the bottom.